Six Down, Three to Go?

For those of you who wanted Control-Alt-Delete with the coaching staff, you may be getting your wish. Rumors were circulating last night, but today it appears official – According to Howie Stalwick, Wulff has released at least six of the nine existing assistants. Yarno, Burtnett, Walker, Long, Walkosky and Peterson are all gone. As has been heavily speculated before, Broussard stays on as RB coach as part of the new regime. There are also two other potential coaches that will be retained in Rosenbach and Levenseller.

Who knows with Rosey. It’s no secret he wants to be a head coach, and with Todd Sturdy coming to coordinate the offense and also coach QB’s, it’s not really clear what his role would be. In fact, it does seem rather odd that they would attempt to retain him.

Rosey’s been a polarizing figure the last few years among the fans. But I have to admit that I’ve never really had a problem with the guy, at least with his coaching. I thought he did a good job of introducing new wrinkles to the tired old one-back offense that we’ve been running since 1987. Notice how much shotgun we ran this year? And how many times we actually ran out of it? We started to turn into a hybrid one-back this year in very subtle ways. And, even Brinkhater loves to point out how genius the 2003 Holiday Bowl offense was that night in San Diego. Several times Kegel would be in the shotgun, and we ran J-Smooth out of that alignment several times. The trick play on the TD where Kegel motioned out of the backfield like a receiver, and the direct snap to Smith? GREAT call that led to a TD. Texas just hadn’t seen us run much shotgun coming into that game, and especially running out of it was something that they weren’t prepared for.

And I still remember an interview Kegel gave in 2003 about Rosey, and how great a change it was from the previous regime. Remember, Rosey got Heisman votes in 1988 as a QB in this one-back offense. He’s been there, done it, and that carries weight with players. Moreso than just being the son of the coach or whatever.

But it’s also been told to us here that Rosey hasn’t been real happy the last few years. I think the fan criticism has worn him down, and he’s heard it all. In fact, one story is that Rosey used to walk up the stadium stairs before kickoff to get to the coaches box, right through the crowd. I remember noticing it the first time at the New Mexico game in 2003, where he and a couple of others walked right up through the crowd before kickoff. But around 2005, with all the Brink-Swogger controversy, that practice ended. Rosey heard more and more calls of “you f-ing idiot!” and garbage like that as he would make his way up the stairs, so he started to go up to the press box another way. Maybe a change of scenery would be good and he can get a fresh start somewhere else, ultimately leading to a head job.

The real wonder is Levenseller. I want to personally stump for that guy. I really and truly hope that they do the right thing and keep him around. Levy has given everything he has to the program since 1992. Not only one of the best players in WSU history, but he’s openly regarded by many as one of the top WR coaches around. Jack Thompson on KJR Monday night called him one of the best WR coaches in the country and the best he’s been around. That’s saying something. Our WR’s have been pretty special of late. Jason Hill obviously, the biggest TD maker in school history. Brandon Gibson was a 3-star recruit from Puyallup that a lot of schools missed on, and he’s blossomed into a first-team All-Pac-10 pick who set receiving records this year and has a fantastic future on the next level. Bumpus never had top-shelf speed, but is tough as hell with excellent hands. Even Charles Dillon, banged up all season, had a productive senior year. Plus, it’s not just about catches and yards with Levy’s guys. They ALL block on running plays. It’s a requirement when you are a one-back offense that your WR’s also block and not pull Randy Moss-type disinterest when the ball isn’t coming your way, and they do the dirty work as well.

Whatever happens, Levy, WSU Football Blog salutes your years of faithful service and we are all hoping that you return to the Palouse! Do the right thing coach Wulff, and keep this man.

Finally, potential recruiting news. Cougfan has the FREE STORY today of center Jonathan Solomon out of Lawndale, CA. He favors WSU and UW, with “Dad favoring WSU, Mom favoring UW. I probably agree with my Dad more, but we’ll see what happens after I take my trips.” He’ll be at WSU on 1/11, and at UW on 1/18. He’s got a lot of schools in the mix, including Oregon, Boise State, BC, Oregon State, and Virginia among others. All have offered. He’s a sharp kid too, 3.5 GPA and 1490 SAT. One thing that stands out here is that he mentions that Trent Miles of UW is the guy who’s been recruiting him. Well, Trent Miles is no longer with UW, as he accepted the head coaching position at Indiana State University last week. We’ll see if that matters in a month or so.